700 inmates still at large after Bangladesh revolution jailbreaks

Bangladesh authorities have reported that around 700 prison inmates remain on the run after a series of mass jailbreaks during the student-led revolution over the summer that ousted former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

Prisons chief Syed Mohammad Motaher Hossain told AFP that 1,500 of the 2,200 escaped inmates have been recaptured, while the rest, of which at least 70 fugitives were either "terrorists" or death row convicts, are still on the run.

After the collapse of Hasina's government amid a widespread revolt, she fled to India in August, where she remains in exile. Prior to her departure, protests and sieges at five prisons across Bangladesh led to the escape of over 2,000 inmates.

On July 19, hundreds of people marched to a prison in Narsingdi, east of Dhaka, setting the facility on fire and freeing hundreds of inmates. In the weeks that followed, four more prisons were attacked, including a high-security facility in Kashimpur, where some of the country's most notorious criminals were detained.

Police spokesman Imam Hossain Sagar informed that the police were making all efforts to track the remaining escapees.

"We have instructed all the police stations to stay alert and arrest the escaped prisoners," he said, adding that several "top terrorists" who were granted bail by courts following Hasina's ouster, were also being closely monitored.